D-limonene in Citrus Essential Oils

I love my Young Living citrus oils, Lemon, Grapefruit, Orange, Tangerine, and Lime!  I use my Lemon EO

(essential oil) for cleaning (a few drops mixed with water), taking gooey stickers off surfaces, fighting infections and in recipes.  I call Lemon my "sunshine in a bottle" and it has been known to lift depression.  A friend of mine found it reduced gout symptoms for her husband. 

Grapefruit EO helps create a feeling of satisfaction,  reduces hunger, helps the body release fat cells.  Tangerine EO has helped two people I know with vertigo, is delicious on a fruit salad and is wonderful diffused in a room.  Lime EO is great in guacamole and other recipes.  All the citrus oils are refreshing in water and encourage me to drink more.  They are anti-viral and have been known to  help to boost the immune system.

In addition to these uses, all the citrus oils are high in d-limonene which has been documented to help with memory retention, higher performance and greater accuracy.  Studies have also indicated that d-limonene has been shown to dissolve gallstones, relieve heartburn and constipation, and fight tumors and cancer cells.

 Check out the scientific study below to learn more about the benefits of these wonderful citrus oils.  Young Living is the only company that I would trust for purity and providing a "living" oil with all the therapeutic properties. I'll discuss this in another post, but if you'd like to try a few citrus oils, contact me or go to www.youngliving.com and use my ID#1196107 to order a bottle or two.

I am sure you will love these citrus oils!

Unexpected inspiration

Sometimes we find inspiration in unusual places.  In the women's restroom at work, there is a plaque with a short prayer that seems to dovetail perfectly with where I find myself right now.  I have decided to leave my full-time job to focus my time and energy on sharing health and wellness inspiration, information and resources with others.  I am passionate about natural healing, as I am sure you have figured out by now.  I plan to share Young Living's essential oils and supplements, which I use many times each day, so others can experience the same benefits that I, and thousands of others, have been blessed to experience.  I plan to share nutritional healing tips, recipes and to challenge others to take the next good step.  I will encourage those God sends my way to "be transformed by the renewal of your mind" by helping them see how their mindset and emotions may be contributing to their inability to experience success when it comes to their health and energy.  God wants us to be healthy, whole and to enjoy life to the full, not limp through life crippled by our poor health.  He has given us a garden of healing at our finger tips!  I am excited to be able to share this garden with others.

The prayer at work reads:

"May the focus of my day

be on life's priorities -

Love God, Family and Friends,

take care of my health

and be the best I can be in all I do."

How can I help you take the next good step?  Can I share a bit of what I have been learning with you? 

If you are passionate about natural healing, why not join me in spreading hope, healing, encouragement and natural healing agents with the world (or as much of it as we can get to!)?  I am one person.  Together we can have a greater impact.

Raw Chocolate

I confess.  I am a chocolate lover.  In my search for healthier options, I have learned about raw cacao and find that I have really become very fond of this little bean. 

I first became acquainted with the value of raw cacao while watching Food Matters, a great movie that explains the importance of healing ourselves with food, vitamins and other natural supplements.
David Wolfe, a health and wellness guru, was talking about the high mineral, vitamin content of cacao.  I was thrilled to hear that my favorite flavor was something I could enjoy, in its raw form of course.

Here is a bit about David and cacao:  "David Wolfe is a  passionate proponent of the healing and beautifying power of raw chocolate (cacao beans)... Just ask David - he won’t be shy to tell you why chocolate is the greatest, most prosperous, nutritious, mood-elevating, highest energizing, and top weight loss aphrodisiac food on the planet!"

Just a few of the benefits of raw cacao:  cacao has some of the highest levels of iron, magnesium, manganese, vitamin C,  and other nutrients.  It has high antioxidant properties and is a natural anti-inflammatory agent.   Interestingly, a typical sample of cacao nibs or beans is low in caffeine and will yield anywhere from zero to 1,000 parts per million of caffeine (less than 1/20th of the caffeine present in conventional coffee.)

I have used cacao powder and nibs (small broken pieces of bean) in my oatmeal, smoothies, homemade trail mix, raw ice cream and just about anywhere I could "tastefully" squeeze it in.

Here is my recipe for my "Oatmeal Sunday":
Make a batch of Steel Cut Oats
Add cinnamon powder, unsweetened coconut flakes, raw cacao nibs, chopped nuts (your choice), a bit of almond or coconut milk and a tablespoon or less of blue agave nectar.  I sometimes add in some blueberries, peach pieces, banana chunks or raisins.  Oh, so delicious!

So, how do you use cacao?  Do you have a recipe you could share?

Are you Hungry for Change?

I talk to people all the time who state emphatically that they want to be healthier, they know they should make changes to their diet, but they feel powerless to actually make these changes.  I understand.  Even St. Paul in the new testament could empathize, when he stated, "For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate."

Hungry for Change is a great movie that addresses this very question:  "If I know I should eat healthier, and I think I want to eat healthier, why do I find myself eating things I know are not good for me?"  This movie addresses food addictions, the emotional issues involved with eating, why diets don't work, what synthetic chemicals do to our bodies, how to improve our food choices simply.

I think this is a great movie for anyone who truly wants to be healthier.  I believe you will leave this movie with hope, a plan and confidence that good health is possible.  Lots of great statistics, quotes and information.

After you watch the movie, share your thoughts with the rest of us.

Un-common sense?

In writing this blog, I want to make it clear that I am not a health and wellness expert, but a woman who has a hunger to learn and a desire to live a fuller life.  While I have always enjoyed learning, when it came to health and wellness, for the first 48 years of my life, I was pretty content to march along with the majority of the American public taking as fact much of what I saw in print, heard in the news and read on a label.  I had a basic trust that the food industry, drug industry and the FDA were interested in protecting my health and well being.  I think I was lacking some common sense.

As I gained weight and began to feel tired, achy, depressed and discouraged, I started to become a bit more interested in learning what I could do to naturally get my health back.  I had heard all the typical bits of information:  eat less fats, exercise, add a salad, cut down on coffee, watch the sweets.  The problem was I was already doing these things.  Some of the ladies I work with would say, "Susie is the healthiest eater.  She always has a salad."

Needless to say, when I turned to a more whole food diet and began to lose weight and feel more energetic, my eyes were open to the truth in the statement, "You are what you eat."  I did look a bit like mashed potatoes, a donut, a vitamin depleted freezer meal,  limp overcooked vegetables.  As I ate more whole foods, I could feel a glow come back to my skin, my eyes were brighter and I could practically feel the vitamins running around my body. 

I have often wondered how I let myself get sucked into the spiral of poor food choices, believing the McDonald's commercial, "I'm loving it!" and never really asking myself if the food I was eating was really doing what I wanted it to do, nourish my body.

Real food nourishes.  Processed foods, even if they are "enriched" or have vitamins added (often synthetically made vitamins) are not nourishing to the body.  Usually, it takes more energy and nutrients to break down these foods and the body is left depleted.

So, if you are like me, I encourage you pull out your common sense and take a good, honest look at what you put into your body.  Is it really nourishing you?  Good health is possible, but it all starts with what we give our body to work with. 

What are your favorite ways to nourish your body?

Promise of Healing

For me, my faith in God is the underlying strength, direction and joy of my life's journey.  I delight in God's care for me and have seen His daily miracles in my life.

I have no doubt that it was God's grace that allowed me to respond to my sister's invitation to try the master cleanse and later to begin drinking green smoothies and eating a healthier diet. I had been begging Him for help to put food in its proper place and remove it as an idol from my life.  An idol?  Well, when my day revolved around what I was going to eat next, and I spent massive amounts of time thinking about food, dieting, or my health (or lack of it), then I really do believe food  had become an idol.  Instead of turning to God for love, comfort, or direction, I was turning to the refrigerator.  I felt out of control, not empowered to live life fully and serve others.


I have experienced God's grace and truth in some very tangible ways over the last three years as I've journeyed toward a more vibrant, healthy life.  Once source of grace has been a book of daily reflections titled Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young.

August 20 had this reflection which really spoke to me: "I am a God who heals.  I heal broken bodies, broken minds, broken hearts, broken lives, and broken relationships. My very Presence has immense healing powers." 

I was struck by the compassion and strength of these words.  I have experienced healing in all of these areas, sometimes through prayer, other times through friends or someone at my church.  I believe that God has given us healing agents through His creation, specifically through the plants and the essential oils distilled from these plants.  I have often been heard to say that Young Living's products were "an answer to a prayer I didn't even know to pray". 

Today might be a great day to bring your concerns, your health challenges and other broken places to God and ask Him to lead you to healing.  I believe He will speak to you and guide you to a place of vibrant health and the fullness of joy.

Have you found a spiritual resource that has been helpful on your journey?  I'd love for you to share it with us, so leave a comment below.

Green Smoothies to the Rescue

My journey toward better health continued, after doing the Master Cleanse, with learning from my sister about the importance and benefits of whole plant foods.  I had rarely if ever eaten kale, collard greens,  beet greens, mangos, spirolina, fresh dates, raw pumpkin seeds, broccoli sprouts.  Suddenly, a whole (somewhat overwhelming) world of foods opened up before me.  My sister shared one particular way of getting more raw foods, especially dark green, leafy vegetables, into my diet and that was the green smoothie. 

A green smoothie is a blended mixture of fresh or frozen fruits, green leafy vegetables and water or another liquid.  It may sound disgusting, but in reality it is a delicious way to start the day.  I began drinking green smoothies every morning and within a short time began to lose weight (20 pounds my first year from just my daily smoothie), my skin cleared up significantly and I had more energy.  My cravings for sugar and processed foods diminished, and I started craving fruits and vegetables which made making the change to a healthier diet much easier.

Do you know that green leafy plants contain more protein (amino acids) than meat, are low in calories and have an incredible nutritional profile?  There is a diverse variety of greens, from spinach to dandelion, from parsley to basil.  Blending greens with sweet fruits is easy, portable and great for all ages. My one year old grandson loves his green smoothies.  There are numerous testimonies of healing from serious, chronic, and irreversible illnesses, by those who have taken the green smoothie challenge.  Check out www.rawfamily.com or www.blendtec.com for recipes and ideas.

Making a smoothie is very simple, especially if you have a high-powered blender like a Blendtec or Vitamix.  Some people have used a Nutri-bullet.  I started with my old Oster blender and, after drinking a smoothie every day for 6 months, knew I was committed and purchased my Blendtec.  Two years later, I have used over 2500 cycles on the blender and it is still in perfect shape.  I make soups, hummus, homemade (dairy free) ice cream and other treats, so it gets daily use.  It was the best kitchen investment I have ever made.  And green smoothies are the best health investment I have made.  I still drink them today.

A basic recipe consists of about 2 cups of fresh and/or frozen unsweetened fruit, a cup or two of dark greens, one to two cups of water or almond milk.  Blend until smooth.  Dairy (milk or yogurt) is not recommended.  You can add spices (ginger, cinnamon, vanilla bean powder) or ingestible essential oils (I love Young Living tangerine, cinnamon, lemon EOs).  It is best to add some soluble fruit (banana, pear, strawberries, mango) to a smoothie to make it creamy.  Apples, berries and insoluble fruit will separate quickly if just mixed with greens.

You can even get a Green Smoothie App for iphone, android or computer or just invent your own concoctions and have fun!  Have you tried green smoothies?  Do you have a favorite raw food recipe?

The Master Cleanse

As I mentioned yesterday, I had gotten to the point of being willing to try anything to change the unhealthy patterns in my life and to become healthier.  My younger sister shared that she had been doing a cleanse and it was giving her more energy, a sense of purpose and she was eliminating cravings for unhealthy foods and experiencing a desire for more fruits and vegetables.  I was intrigued and decided to jump right in.

So after stuffing myself on Thanksgiving day, I started the Master Cleanse on black Friday.  This cleanse involves drinking 6-10 glasses of "lemonade" a day and giving the digestive system a rest from all solid foods.  The body then begins to take the extra energy that is not being used on digestion (usually 80% of our energy) and uses it for cleansing, healing, detoxifying and other activities that it often does not have time for when we are eating the typical American diet of processed foods, chemical additives, heavy meats, lots of sweets and other blood sugar raising foods.

You may be interested in checking out the Master Cleanse.  It was created by Stanley Burroughs and published in 1976.  I found a website that was extremely valuable for me and answered many of my questions, as well as having a forum with hundreds of conversations about the cleanse.  It was created by Peter Glickman and is http://themastercleanse.com/.  He also wrote a book, Lose Weight, Have More Energy & Be Happier in 10 Days that I enjoyed.

I did the cleanse for 10 days and experienced days with detox symptoms (headache, aching neck and back) and occasionally had the desire to chew something, but overall I was surprised how easy the Master Cleanse was.  After 10 days, I did have more energy, felt emotionally grounded and spiritually uplifted, and was ready to turn to a better diet. 

My journey had begun and I was experiencing success.  Next I would make a dietary change that would revolutionize my health.

What have you done to turn your health around?  Do you have a resource you can share?

Welcome to the Journey!

Life is a journey of exploration, discovery, surprises, joys, and faith.  Mixed at times with difficulty and suffering, it is always made easier and richer when shared with others. 

My own journey has been filled with the wisdom of others and transformed by the support of family and friends.  I hope in this blog to share some of my discoveries, the wisdom I have been blessed to hear, and introduce you to the people in my life who call me on to be the best I can be. 

Some of the lessons I have learned have added joy to a day; others have redirected the course of my life.

I have discovered that good health is more about common sense and returning to the simplicity of the Garden of Eden.  Plants are incredibly healing, whether eaten raw, blended in smoothies or used as an essential oil.  I will share my thoughts, recipes and testimonies of healing with you. (Like losing 45 pounds in two years and getting younger every day!)

I love the resourcefulness of creating my own cleaning products, homemade gifts or planting a garden. I will share some tips, ideas and instructions with you.

Listening to gifted presenters has challenged me to grab hold of life, take responsibility for my choices and step out of my comfort zone.  I hope to share some powerful gems that might inspire you.

My faith is the rock that my life is built upon.  Each day I am challenged to be thankful, to trust and to walk in faith.  Like a stained glass window, may my sharing allow God's love to bring color and beauty to your life.

Thank you for taking this journey with me.